1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to overhead sectional doors and, more particularly, to an overhead sectional door having louvering sections.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Overhead sectional doors are well known. The most common example of such a door is the conventional residential garage door. Typically, an overhead sectional garage door consists of a number of flat, relatively wide, wood or metal sections which are hinged together. Rollers attached to the sides of the sections engage a pair of guide tracks which are mounted one on each side of the garage opening. The tracks usually consist of a vertical portion which corresponds to the garage opening and an upper portion which follows the contour of the garage roof, usually at an angle of 90 degrees to the garage opening. Thus, the door may traverse the tracks from a fully-closed position with the door vertically disposed to a fully-open position with the door disposed along the upper portion of the track.
An overhead sectional door of the type just described serves two functions. It is either open to allow entry or it is closed to provide privacy and security. If ventillation or natural lighting are desired, the door must be open. When it is open, the contents of the structure are exposed to public scrutiny and the architectual esthetics of the structure are destroyed. If privacy and security are to be maintained, ventillation and natural light are lost.
Another type of device which is used, primarily in commercial applications, for closing a vertical opening is the rolling shutter. Rolling shutters typically consist of a large number of narrow slats. The slats engage a pair of vertical runners mounted on the sides of the opening. The upper end of each runner terminates in a roller device such that the shutter may be opened and closed in the manner of a window shade.
To facilitate this "window shade" operation, the slats which make up the shutter must be very narrow to allow them to negotiate the tight radius of the roller device. As a result, rolling shutters have no esthetic quality and are used primarily for security purposes.